Veteran is first recipient of Governor's Award for Excellence in Education

Injured in Afghanistan, soldier dedicated himself to transforming Chicago school

May 03, 2011|By Erin Meyer, Tribune Reporter

Retired Army Major Aaron Rucker, a special education teacher at Marshall Metro High School, right, received a Governor's Award for Excellence in Education as well as a "Veteran of the Month" honor from the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. (Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune)

Retired Army Maj. Aaron Rucker's latest mission is to help turn Marshall Metropolitan High from combat zone to successful school.

On Tuesday, he was named Illinois' veteran of the month and the first recipient of the Governor's Award for Excellence in Education.

In 2004, Rucker, 42, was injured while serving in Afghanistan. With a partially reconstructed left ankle and spinal injuries that still require medical attention, he enrolled in Illinois' Troops to Teachers program. The program, offered by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, helps military personnel leaving the armed services get jobs in the classroom.

Seven years and three master's degrees later, Rucker serves as chairman of the West Side school's special education department.

"I learned it in the military, and I brought it to the classroom," the former Special Forces solider said.

"Every veteran returning from deployment deserves a good education and a good job," Gov. Pat Quinn said via email Tuesday.

Students and staff, joined by local veterans, expressed their gratitude at the school Tuesday morning. But Rucker, motioning toward a group of students, said, "Today is Teacher Appreciation Day, but today I appreciate you."

The hallways at Marshall were quiet, populated only by security guards and a few purposeful students wearing the school's new colors — maroon and gold. But last year, Marshall was one of several failing schools shuttered or overhauled by the Chicago Board of Education.

Rucker described an environment where fights were common, the smell of marijuana wafted outside classrooms and students played dice in the bathroom.

"Now the only thing you can hear is teachers teaching," Rucker said, standing in a hallway halfway through third period. "We are trying to change that paradigm, and it's working."

Principal Kenyatta Stansberry said Rucker's military experience prepared him better than any university could for his role on the turnaround team charged with guiding the school into a new era.

"To me, it was like combat," she said. "It's all about building relationships, and relationships are about trust."